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Toxic Gaslighting: How 3M Executives Convinced a Scientist the Forever Chemicals She Found in Human Blood Were Safe

https://www.propublica.org/article/3m-forever-chemicals-pfas-pfos-inside-story

Decades ago, Kris Hansen showed 3M that its PFAS chemicals were in people’s bodies. Her bosses halted her work. As the EPA now forces the removal of the chemicals from drinking water, she wrestles with the secrets that 3M kept from her and the world.

Toxic Gaslighting: How 3M Executives Convinced a Scientist the Forever Chemicals She Found in Human Blood Were Safe

4 comments

paysrenttobirds

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Amazing story. And the conflicts among 3M 's own scientists--the need to know, but not know, and what that means for the people doing the work, how it just breaks them and spits them out. This is obviously not limited to a few bad companies--it is baked into the corporate landscape. It is a big reason young people are not excited about "growing" our sick economy. What's in it for people? Poison and humiliation and kill your own values so Grandpa can retire.

madeinthebackseat

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Holy....this is the culmination of the incentive structure we have created.

Maybe we should change the incentives.

breadsmasher

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Once, he molded some fibers into cups, thinking that they might make a good bra. They turned out to be miserably uncomfortable, so he and his colleagues placed them over their mouths, giving the company the inspiration for its signature N95 mask.

I like to imagine these people randomly placing these cups on their body to see what would work, after the bra didn’t pan out

homesweethomeMrL

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If you haven’t, check it out - it’s really well done.